If you think you are a free thinker, maybe you should think again. With the holiday season in full swing, you should take the time to read this informative article on how easily we are all manipulated as human beings.

For example, it is most likely true that YOU WOULD TORTURE ANOTHER HUMAN IF YOU WERE TOLD TO. Don't think so? Think again. If you wouldn't, surely your neighbor would.

Friday, September 19, 2008

If you have read here before then you know that I own shares of Sterling Mining Company (SRLM). I paid more than $3.00 per share for the shares I own. I purchased SRLM as a long term investment as I believed (and still do) in the core property that they operate which is the famous Sunshine Mine in the Silver Valley, Idaho.

Since the time I wrote my last post on Sterling Mining, alot has happened. While the price of silver was steadily climbing, the price of Sterling common shares were continually heading lower. While I poised the question, "Sterling Mining: What is Wrong With This Picture?", I didn't know how prophetic that would be.

I guess that the charts really do tell us what is about to happen sometimes. Since then, SRLM has basically had a collapse in its share price. The company struck a deal to merge with Minco Silver in Canada, but that plan ultimately ended with no deal being struck.

Sterling Mining share price has gone from over $3.00 per share to under 20 cents. Unfortunately for me and many other investors in SRLM commong stock, the company seems to have taken on more that it can handle and hasn't been able to effectively raise capital in this environment to keep its operations ongoing.

I read that they were able to borrow $5 million from Minco before the transaction was dissolved. Since then, Sterling Mining has stated that they are going to pare back operations and reduce the mining staff.

I can only imagine that they are trying to conserve cash at this time and that they are continuing to explore financing options to keep the company on track to return the Sunshine Mine to its full operating capacity.

Further speculating, could there be some naked short selling in this stock? Certainly it is possible as I have read that many of the junior mining shares have been under extreme downward price pressure due to naked short selling. I don't know if this is the case with SRLM or not but I would venture to say it is possible and the timing along with the financial difficulties of the company would have been complimentary.

I don't know if Sterling Mining is fairly valued right now or not. I wonder if the property has lost all of its value. I don't know how it could of since the metal is still in the ground. This would mean that as long as Sterling Mining can stay in business and control this prolific silver property, it is still a long term call option on the silver in the ground.

If Sterling management is prudent and finds a way to achieve continued financing without completely and irresponsibly diluting the existing shareholders, there is still a chance that this company will come out of this ok and be able to return value to the shareholders.

But if the stock price alone is any indication of how the future of this company will end up, then things surely look bleak indeed.

Monday, June 30, 2008

The effect of illegal naked short selling on the price of many junior mining shares has been quite pronounced. There are many different techniques used to depress the price of the common shares of these junior mining companies. Jim Puplava of Financial Sense has put together a great interview that is worth your time to listen to or read the transcript of. You can find it here.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

This is a very interesting time in American history. This is a time of massive discontent with the way America's leaders conduct themselves and how they continually guide our great country down the path to ruin. Our freedoms are disappearing faster than most people care to realize. Our money is continually debased as it no longer is backed by gold or silver. Our empire building continues to drain our resources and foster hatred of America and Americans across the world.

If you were a part of the Ron Paul r3VOLution, this is your chance to continue the fight to take our country back and go back to doing the things that made us great. Like following the Constitution. For those of you who are just now starting to wake up to the sham that is our current political system, welcome aboard.

Join us now in the fight for freedom, honest money and a return to the values of the Constitution.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

If you are interested in gaining some exposure to one of the world's leading silver, zinc and lead producing areas, David Bond over at www.silverminers.com has put together an excellent list of publicly traded companies in the Silver Valley area and some other silver and mining related links that you might want to consider checking out. These companies range from some smaller penny stocks such as Shoshone Silver to larger companies such as Hecla Mining.

Friday, April 25, 2008

Silver has just notched another usage to add to its already many industrial uses. Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co. said this week that it has developed an autocatalyst that replaces platinum with the more affordable silver. This is a good thing for silver investors as this will take more silver off of the market each year. Auto catalysts are used to control pollution from motorized vehicles and demand is expected to continue to increase as pollution laws continue to become stricter.

Here are some recent articles and press releases regarding the new silver auto catalyst.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

This interview with Mr. James Sinclair is straight to the point. You will learn the truth first hand about the current state of and the future of the U.S. Dollar, Gold and the current and future outcomes of the credit derivatives crisis.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

While the price of silver is pushing to new highs, the common shares of Sterling Mining Company (SRLM) are sinking in a reverse relationship to the price of the metal it is in the business of prospecting and producing.

I find this odd for a couple of reasons. While silver prices are rocketing higher, SRLM is not showing any positive price action. This smells fishy to me as Sterling appears to be on the verge of being one of the premier silver mining companies in the world in the near future.

Sterling Mining Companyhas strengthened its status as one of the world's few primary silver producers by restoring the Sunshine Mine in North Idaho's "Silver Valley" to production. The Company acquired the rights to the mine and related assets in mid-2003, and officially commenced initial production in December of 2007. Along with the Sunshine Mine and exploration properties encompassing over 25,000 acres in North Idaho's "Silver Valley" and neighboring Montana, the Company is exploring and developing properties totaling over 62,500 acres in the historic Zacatecas Silver District of Mexico.Some recent Sterling Mining Highlights include:

Sterling Mining CompanyGeographically Diverse Project Portfolio

The Company's core projects are situated in two of the world's most geologically prospective silver-mining districts, Idaho's renowned Coeur d'Alene (Silver Valley) district and Mexico's historic Zacatecas silver-mining district.

Low Geopolitical Risk

The Company's advanced projects and newly expanded portfolio of silver properties are situated in politically stable regions with a strong mining heritage. The United States and Mexico are signatories to free-trade agreements and have laws and legislation governing investment in their mineral sectors.

Strong Technical Management

Sterling Mining has assembled a strong technical and management team to achieve its growth plans in the United States and Mexico, including many Sunshine Mine veterans who contributed their expertise to restoring the Sunshine Mine to production.

Current Highlights

Commenced initial production at the Sunshine Mine in late 2007.

Assembled a team of more than 120 employees at the Sunshine Mine by year-end 2007, including many Sunshine Mine veterans.

Secured a listing with the Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol "SMQ," reflecting a strategy to raise Sterling's global profile and shareholder base. The company's shares began trading on this resource-based exchange on October 2, 2007.

Began processing Sunshine vein ore from the Mine's Upper Country development in the newly refurbished mill in September of 2007.

Sterling common shares began trading on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol "SRLM" on August 14, 2006. The company is also listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FSE:SMX).

Completed a successful financing of US$24.7 million in August of 2007.

Retained the independent engineering firm to complete a NI 43-10 technical report which identifies a reserve of 23.48M oz and a resource of 231M oz.

Completed the 5,700-foot Sterling Tunnel Project, and also renovated the Silver Summit Hoist and rehabilitated the Silver Summit shaft to the 3,000-foot Level to complete the Sunshine Mine's secondary escapeway system.

Expanded landholdings in the United States and Mexico, while continuing to explore priority projects independently or through industry joint ventures.

In the meantime, this may be a great opportunity for those who wish to load up on some shares of SRLM at bargain prices.

Disclaimer: I own shares of Sterling Mining Company (SRLM) and stand to make profits on a rise in the common shares of this company. Do your own due dilligence before you make any investing decision including this one.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Cobalt prices have continued to move steadily higher in a trend that has seen the price of Cobalt almost double since January 2007. Cobalt mining companies and cobalt resource companies stand to reap the rewards of these higher prices if they persist.

One such company is Caledonia Mining (CALVF). Although Caledonia Mining is a penny stock, it's potential to become a major player in the industry seems to be real. As I previously wrote about in this article "Cobalt and Caledonia Mining (CALVF)", Caledonia has a massive cobalt deposit called the Nama Cobalt Project.

This property alone has an estimated resource of 114,561,560 lbs of cobalt plus other base metals including copper and nickel.

Caledonia recently signed Cobalt Off-take Agreement with Large Chinese Refiner. The price of Caledonia shot up on the news in heavy trading from 10 cents to 20 cents U.S. It has been consolidating it's gains and is now trading at around 15 cents U.S. per share.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Shoshone Silver Mining has announced that they will be on the road next week promoting the company.

I recently posted a review of Shoshone Silver whereby I stated that Shoshone Silver is an undervalued stock. I maintain that this is very true. This is a stock that is not well known yet, but it has been around for a long time and has an excellent collection of silver and other precious metals properties around the country and in particular in the Silver Valley.

Here is the Announcement:

SHOSHONE SILVER AT WORLD MONEY SHOW, ORLANDO AND CAMBRIDGE HOUSE CONFERENCE, PHOENIX

Shoshone Silver Mining will be participating in the upcoming Mini SilverSummit being held in conjunction with the World Money Show 4 p.m. Feb. 5that the Gaylord Palms Hotel in Orlando, Florida. Liz Wilhite, InvestorRelations, will be presenting for Shoshone. Liz will be available todiscuss Shoshone with current and prospective investors from February 5 - 7.Information about Shoshone will be available at the Silver Valley MiningAssociation Booth, #811 throughout the show. If you would like to speakwith Liz about Shoshone please look for her at the SVMA booth or call her at(208) 512-3009 to schedule a meeting. Details about the World Money Showmay be found at http://www.moneyshow.com/msc/twms/exh.asp. Attendance isfree.

Shoshone will also be attending the Cambridge House Conference, Booth 211,held at the Renaissance Phoenix Glendale Hotel on February 9th & 10th. LexSmith, President, and Liz Wilhite will be available at the booth.Information about the conference may be found athttp://www.goldshow.ca/ch_phoenix2008.html. Attendance is free withpre-registration through the website, or $25 at the door.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

I recently wrote about Caledonia Mining and it's Nama Cobalt Property. By my calculations, I determined that the value of the Nama deposit alone was worth over $6 billion U.S. I also noted that Caledonia had many other properties that would take the value of CALVF well over the $6 Billion mark.

The stock has responded quite favorably and as I write this, it is up over 60% in price. It closed yesterday at $0.103 per share and has traded as high as $0.20 per share, a 100% gain in 1 day.

I previously mentioned that "It has had two massive run ups in share price. In 1986 it rose from under $1 to over $7 in just over 1 year. Then in 1994 it rose from under $1 to over $9 in less than 1 year.

Now, as a shareholder of CALVF, I wonder how high it will run on this latest development with it's Nama Cobalt Property.

As I close out this post, I note that Caledonia Mining Corporation (CALVF) is trading at $0.177 per share. This is a one day rise in price of over 71%.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

The ongoing energy crisis continues to get progressively worse hampering the precious metals mining companies that rely on a regular supply of electricity to conduct their operations. While this is very bullish for gold, it is not bullish for gold mining companies operating in this area.

South Africa Power Crisis Deepens,Risking Its Economy, Investments

By ROBB M. STEWARTJanuary 25, 2008 11:56 a.m.

JOHANNESBURG -- A power-supply crisis in South Africa that has frustrated individuals, thrown business into the dark and forced the suspension of mining activity risks denting the country's economic growth and dampening the appetite of foreign investors.

The scope of the crisis was highlighted Friday when the government said it was treating the situation as a national emergency after some of the world's largest mining companies, including AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. and Anglo Platinum Ltd., said they had halted operations across South Africa because the state power provider couldn't ensure the supply of electricity.

Gold Fields Ltd. said it had been told by Eskom Holdings Ltd., which generates roughly 95% of the country's electricity, that the supply of power couldn't be guaranteed for between two and four weeks.

South Africa, the continent's economic engine, has been knocked by two weeks of rolling blackouts that have halted business for hours at a time each day, caused extended traffic jams and added further pressure to the already shaky government of President Thabo Mbeki.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Cobalt prices have been on the rise lately. In fact, they have increased from around $15/lb to over $45/lb since November 2006. This chart only shows activity through December 2007, but if you check the current sales price at BHP Billiton, you will see that they are currently making cobalt deliveries at $46.25/lb. Not a bad increase. In a little over a year, cobalt prices have basically tripled. This should be good news for cobalt mining companies or cobalt miners with significant cobalt resources.

The NI-43-101 technical report concluded that the combined Indicated Resource for Anomalies A and C at Nama is estimated as 121,874,000 tonnes with a weighted average grade of 0.047% Co and 0.043% Cu. The Nickle portion is approximately 0.015%.

This is only one of Caledonia's many properties. This property alone has an estimated resource of 114,561,560 lbs of cobalt, 104,811,640 lbs of copper and 36,562,200 lbs of nickel. At today's prices of $46.25/lb for cobalt, $3.27/lb for copper and $13.26/lb for nickel, this is a total value of $6,126,020,985 U.S. dollars.

Caledonia has fully diluted shares totalling 590,273,165. This would put a value of current resources at $10.38 per share just for the Nama project.

This does not include its currently producing gold mine, the Blanket Mine, that has proven and probable gold of nearly 500,000 ounces with inferred gold resources of nearly as much.

Nor does it include its other gold, diamond, platinum and other base metals projects.

Take a look at this long term chart of Caledonia and you will see it has the potential to explode in price in a short matter of time.

It has had two massive run ups in share price. In 1986 it rose from under $1 to over $7 in just over 1 year. Then in 1994 it rose from under $1 to over $9 in less than 1 year.

The question is, does it have another run coming? I don't know. But, I do own 69,300 shares of CALVF and would love to see it make another big run. Be sure to do your own due diligence as these are numbers that I calculated based on information on Caledonia's web site. Remember to invest at your own risk. Penny stocks can make huge gains but can also make you lose all or substantially all of your investment as well.

Monday, January 7, 2008

I recently wrote a piece about SIV's or Structured Investment Vehicles in which a commenter anonymously posted that I didn't know what I was talking about. This following video is quite funny and right on point.